Bluesmen Muddy Waters and Mick Jagger: biography, collaboration, joint performance
Collaborations between rock musicians - is not a new phenomenon. The Beatles and Eric Clapton, Queen and David Bowie, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty. The list could go on and on. However, there are not so many large-scale joint performances, where the cultishness of the performers is striking. One interesting blues collab can be recalled, the performance of "father" Muddy Waters and "children." The Rolling Stones. Gathered at the Checkerboard Lounge, in the early '80s they showed a real generational continuity in the blues.
Muddy Waters and Mick Jagger - two legends from different eras
Muddy Waters is considered the founder of the Chicago school of blues. He could proudly be called a great. He was a virtuoso on the guitar and had a unique style and vocal style. Thanks to Waters blues culture became much more popular. Muddy became the main source of inspiration for British rock bands searching for their sound in the world of rock 'n' roll in the late '60s and early '70s. Without Muddy and his Mannish Boy, Hoochie Coochie Man, Got My Mojo Workin' electric blues could not get into the minds of young people dreaming of their own band and music career.
The love of the blues was shared by a young Briton Mick Jagger, creator of one of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll bands - The Rolling Stones. As a child, he and the future guitarist of the Stones Keith Richards often listened to vinyl records, inspired by Robert Johnson, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and, of course, Muddy Waters. The band's well-established name is directly attributable to this bluesman. His song. Rollin' Stone was the basis for the name of the group.
It was the founding fathers of the blues who laid the foundation for the musical style of The Rolling Stones, which as the band grew and gained popularity gained an identity that the British and world audiences could not help but enjoy. The Rolling Singles (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Sympathy for the Devil, Gimme Shelter and Wild Horses are recognized rock masterpieces.
As Alexis Korner, a bluesman who gave young musicians venues, recalled, "Jagger rarely sang more than three songs in a row. He knew three singers best - Billy Boy Arnold, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.
Terrific performance at the Chess Lounge
At the time of the meeting at the Chicago Blues Club Checkerboard Lounge, Muddy Waters was a musician included in the Blues Hall of Fame. He made a name for himself as a blues legend, an American icon admired all over the world. In the late '70s and early '80s, Muddy was already finished his stunning career: In 1976 he played the last concert tour with his band and released a couple more albums that failed to achieve the same commercial success as the previous ones.
The Rolling Stones At the end of the '70s, they were really "wandering around": there were lawsuits with Keith Richards and not very successful albums. A reboot was needed, and it was marked by the album Tattoo Youreleased in 1981. It received many positive reviews and reached the top of the U.S. album chart Billboard 200.
"Rollings" had the opportunity to meet their idol in person thanks to a coincidence. At the time, they were On tour in America.
The New York Times wrote, "We expect this to be the most lucrative tour in rock 'n' roll history. Its scale is staggering, and the demand for tickets is in the millions..."
The commercial success of this tour was not possible without a visit to Checkerboard Loungefounded in 1972 by another blues legend Buddy Guy.. Concert album Live At Checkerboard Lounge was released in the same eighty-first.
Along with Muddy Waters, the 38-year-old Jagger and his crew put on a real sensation for blues fans, performing hits by various musicians: B.B. King's Sweet Little Angel, Waters' Long Distance Call, Junior Parker's Next Time You See Me and more.
"Imagine that you really want to be a blues guitarist. You've already learned something, you feel confident with the instrument. Suddenly you realize you're standing on the stage, trying to play something, and Muddy Waters is sitting next to you. Everything happens so fast, you don't even know what's going on. Doing a cover of Muddy Waters is one thing, but playing on stage with the legend is quite another...," he said about the performance in Checkerboard Lounge Keith Richards.
Blues classics "Baby, Please Don't Go" and the best covers
The sixth song on the list of the Rollings' live album, recorded in Chicago, is the song Baby, Please Don't Go. This song is a recognized blues standard. It was popularized by the delta blues musician Big Joe Williams in 1935. This ensemble piece is one of the most performed compositions in the entire world, so it is not surprising that the number of arrangements and cover versions unimaginable. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even included Williams' original performance in the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
Baby, Please Don't Go has withstood all the musical experiments of the time: in the 60s it became a popular rock song after its cover recording by the band Themfollowed by versions of hard rock bands AC/DC and Aerosmith. The composition has become an indispensable part of the concert repertoire of these groups.
